While former Braves/Orioles general manager Frank Wren, currently the Red Sox’ senior vice president of baseball operations, had previously been tabbed as a leading candidate for the GM vacancy in Boston, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports that Wren is now “unlikely” to become the team’s next general manager (Twitter link). Wren, as WEEI’s Rob Bradford recently pointed out, resides in Atlanta and wasn’t a guarantee to accept a greater role with the Sox even if the team wanted to promote him. Per Rosenthal, Wren is happy with his current position within Boston’s front office. The Sox, of course, are in the market for a new GM after Mike Hazen was hired as the new GM of the Diamondbacks.

President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said yesterday that the ideal scenario for the Sox would be to fill the GM void internally. That leaves a fair number of options, but MLB Network’s Peter Gammons reported earlier today (via Twitter) that the question among GM circles is whether Red Sox vice president of amateur/international scouting Amiel Sawdaye would take the “diminished” GM role in Boston. Certainly, even though Sawdaye would be second in command as opposed to the top decision-maker, it would seem logical that Sawdaye would welcome the promotion. And indeed, the Boston Herald’s Evan Drellich tweets that the likely removal of Wren’s name from the running now places Sawdaye in the spotlight.

Also of note with regard to the Boston front office is Gammons’ report that analytics director Tom Tippett has left the team. Drellich reports that Tippett, who spent the 2008-13 seasons as the team’s director of information services before rising to the role of senior baseball analyst, was offered the opportunity to return but elected to pursue other avenues. Tippett told the Herald’s Michael Silverman that he could end up working for another club or within baseball in another capacity, adding: “…but I’m also interested in other spots and opportunities outside the sports world.” Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe tweets that Dombrowski said Tippett’s role will be filled, though he declined to specify if it’d be an external or internal hire and added that the position’s title is to be determined.

Those interested in the inner-workings of the Red Sox’ front office under current and prior leadership groups will want to check out Drellich’s above-linked column, as he quotes Tippett in discussing the leadership styles and strengths of Dombrowski as well as former Boston GMs Ben Cherington and Theo Epstein. Notably, Drellich reads between the lines a bit and wonders how heavily Tippett was leaned upon by Dombrowski, as Tippett said back in August when speaking at a seminar entitled Sabermetrics, Scouting and the Science of Baseball that Dombrowki has a “smaller inner circle that he works with when he’s making decisions” than either Epstein or Cherington did.

Once it decided to move on from ex-GM Dave Stewart at the end of the regular season, Arizona reached out to Boston for permission to speak with Hazen, who served under president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski as the Red Sox’s GM. The BoSox didn’t allow Hazen to interview until after the Indians knocked them out of the ALDS last Monday. Hazen then met with the Diamondbacks on Friday and agreed to become the head of their baseball department Sunday morning.

In response to Hazen’s departure, Dombrowski released a congratulatory statement in which he revealed that “a search for a new general manager for the Boston Red Sox is underway.”

Reports already have senior vice president of baseball operations Frank Wren and pro scouting director Gus Quattlebaum as potential in-house successors to Hazen. If the Red Sox do want to promote Wren, it’s not a guarantee he’ll accept. Rob Bradford of WEEI notes that Wren – formerly the Braves’ GM – still lives in Atlanta, making it unclear if he’d be willing to move to Boston for a bigger role.

Other than Wren, Speier lists assistant GM Brian O’Halloran, VP of amateur and international scouting Amiel Sawdaye, senior VP Allard Baird and VP of international scouting Eddie Romero as other GM possibilities currently with the Red Sox. Speier also points out that Dombrowski interviewed Astros director of player development Quinton McCracken for the team’s GM job before he hired Hazen in 2015. The only member of the group with GM experience is Baird, who held that position with the Royals from 2000-06.

Of course, Hazen could lure certain front office members away from Boston to work with him and Tony La Russa in Arizona. La Russa is now an advisor, no longer the Diamondbacks’ chief baseball officer, but Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reports (on Twitter) that the longtime manager still has power within the organization. La Russa seemingly had a hand in the hiring of Hazen, having sat in with owner Ken Kendrick during their interviews with GM candidates.

Hazen doesn’t intend to raid the Red Sox of their personnel, according to Speier, though Bradford writes that O’Halloran, Quattlebaum and Sawdaye are candidates to take jobs with the Diamondbacks.

In the wake of Mike Hazen’s departure, the Red Sox are likely to hire a new general manager to work under president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, according to Alex Speier of the Boston Globe (Twitter link). Hazen’s successor could come from within, tweets USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, who reports that Red Sox senior vice president of baseball operations Frank Wren is in the lead to take over as GM. Another member of Boston’s front office, pro scouting director Gus Quattlebaum, is also a potential option, per Rob Bradford of WEEI (Twitter link).

The 58-year-old Wren has extensive experience as an executive, including runs as the GM in Baltimore and Atlanta. Both stints ended in firings for Wren, whose tenure atop the Braves (2007-14) was much longer than his reign with the Orioles (1998-99). In Wren’s seven seasons as the Braves’ GM, the club finished over .500 five times and earned three playoff berths. Shortstop Andrelton Simmons, closer Craig Kimbrel, catcher Evan Gattis and left-hander Alex Wood were among the players the Braves drafted under Wren, who later inked Simmons, Kimbrel, first baseman Freddie Freeman and starter Julio Teheran to extensions that have worked out well (of that group, only Freeman and Teheran remain in Atlanta).

Wren’s time as the Braves’ boss certainly had blemishes, including allocating significant money to outfielder Melvin Upton Jr. (five years, $75.25MM), second baseman Dan Uggla (five years, $62MM) and third baseman Chris Johnson (three years, $23MM). Their inability to live up to those deals contributed to Wren’s firing. In 2014, Wren’s final season in Atlanta, the offensively challenged Braves stumbled to a 27-40 second half after going 52-43 before the All-Star break.

While his resume is imperfect, Wren has experience and a long-standing relationship with Dombrowski working in his favor. Wren was previously with Dombrowski in two other cities – Montreal and Miami – and is now Dombrowski’s “right-hand man,” as Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe wrote in July.

Whether it’s Wren, Quattlebaum or another candidate, it seems Boston’s next GM will have a difficult act to follow. Hazen’s exit to Arizona makes this a “sad day” for the Red Sox because of both his contributions to the organization and his likability, a source told Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald (Twitter link). Moreover, Peter Gammons spoke with a high-ranking Red Sox official who favorably compared Hazen to former Boston GM and current Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein (via Twitter).

The Red Sox announced this afternoon that former Braves GM Frank Wren has been hired as the team’s senior vice president of baseball operations. Wren, 57, worked with president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski previously in the Marlins and Expos organizations. He will add to the team’s new-look front office, which also features newly appointed general manager Mike Hazen, who was promoted yesterday after previously serving as the team’s assistant GM. Boston also announced that assistant director of player personnel Jared Banner has been promoted to director of player personnel.

Wren was rumored to be a candidate to step in as the new Red Sox general manager immediately upon Dombrowski’s hiring, although Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reported last week that he may ultimately sign on with a title other than GM. That appears to be the case, though based on Wren’s title, one can imagine him playing a significant role in baseball operations decision-making.

Per the press release announcing the move, Wren“will serve as a talent evaluator and will assist Dombrowski in all aspects of baseball operations.” Based on that description, Wren will report directly to Dombrowski, though he’ll still be underneath Hazen in terms of organizational hierarchy. As Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal tweets, it seems that Wren will be an aide but, unlike Hazen, won’t handle negotiations with agents or other teams.

The final years of Wren’s tenure as Braves general manager was marred by organizational missteps, as Atlanta made questionable free agent signings and extensions alike. Most notably, the signing of Melvin Upton Jr. and extensions for both Dan Uggla and Chris Johnson went south quickly. That’s not to say that none of the moves made with Wren in the GM chair panned out, of course; the acquisition of Justin Upton still looks to have been a win for the Braves, even if Upton has since been traded. Similarly, the Braves gave up little in the way of impact talent to acquire Michael Bourn and were rewarded with a season and a half of excellent play as well as draft compensation upon Bourn’s departure. (Here’s a full list of Wren’s transactions while serving as a GM, courtesy of the MLBTR Transaction Tracker.)

Nevertheless, the late missteps in Wren’s tenure outweighed the successes in the eyes of ownership, who replaced him with fellow veteran baseball ops exec John Hart. His new role with the Red Sox will be more limited, it seems, as he’ll serve primarily as a talent evaluator and will be based in Atlanta as opposed to in Boston, according to Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe and Sean McAdam of Comcast Sportsnet New England (Twitterlinks).

Despite a terrible second half following up what had been an already underwhelming season, multiple executives tell Jon Heyman of CBS Sports that they expect White Sox right-hander Jeff Samardzija to do just fine in free agency. As has been said on many occasions, scouts love Samardzija’s raw stuff and competitive nature, and as Heyman points out he’s a relatively low-mileage arm due to his days as a wide receiver and time spent in the bullpen early in his MLB career. Two execs told Heyman they expect Samardzija to top Ervin Santana’s four-year, $55MM contract, with one saying he should “blow it away.” Unsurprisingly, Heyman hears that the Sox will extend a qualifying offer to Samardzija. I’ll join Heyman and the execs to whom he spoke in saying I’d be shocked to see Samardzija accept.

More from Heyman’s latest Inside Baseball column…

Frank Wren is seen as a likely hire for Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, though Heyman notes that Wren may receive a role other than GM. Turning to other GM openings, Heyman lists Jerry Dipoto as the favorite for the Mariners’ GM gig and calls current A’s assistant GM Dan Kantrovitz a favorite for the Brewers. Milwaukee is said to be seeking someone who is extremely analytical, and they’ve felt that some who have interviewed haven’t fit that description well enough. Billy Eppler is still the favorite for the Angels’ slot, Heyman writes. He doesn’t list a favorite for the Phillies, though he again connects Angels AGM Matt Klentak and Royals AGM J.J. Picollo to the position. Also according to Heyman, Ben Cherington turned down an interview with the Mariners, as his current plan is to take some time away from the rigors of GM work.

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald recently wrote that Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria is very open to trading Marcell Ozuna, but president of baseball operations Michael Hill expressed a desire to keep the talented-but-struggling center fielder when speaking to Heyman. “He’s extremely talented and very much in our plans moving forward,” said Hill, although such a line is to be expected from an on-record executive anyway. Even if the intent is to shop Ozuna, Hill wouldn’t come out and say it.

Nationals skipper Matt Williams is “all but assured of a pink slip” following the season barring a miraculous playoff surge, per Heyman. On the opposite end of the spectrum is interim Phillies manager Pete Mackanin, who looks like he’ll be given a chance to shed the “interim” portion of his title in 2016. Brad Ausmus is indeed expected to be let go by the Tigers following the season, he also writes, and Ausmus could find himself in the dugout for the Padres if that comes to pass.

The Giants hope to add at least one, if not two starting pitchers this offseason, and a run at retaining Mike Leake appears to be one possible scenario. San Francisco is expected to work out a reunion with Tim Lincecum as well, he adds; the two-time Cy Young winner had hip surgery that ended his season earlier this month, though his surgeon strongly believes that the operation will help Lincecum restore some of his disappearing velocity.

Mariners ownership and those remaining in the front office want Hisashi Iwakuma back, so much so that they told other clubs at the deadline that they wouldn’t even consider trading him, Heyman writes. Iwakuma is keen on returning to Seattle as well, he notes. Of course, a run at Iwakuma would have to align with the thinking of whichever new executive steps into the GM’s chair.

Not that there should’ve been any doubt, but Heyman notes that the Blue Jays intend to pick up the club options on Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista. That’s hardly a surprise, as the respective $10MM and $14MM options on the right-handed sluggers are probably two of the easiest option decisions you’ll ever see.

Joel Hanrahan isn’t in a rush to return from his second TJ surgery and may not attempt to pitch in the Majors again until 2017. Best of luck to Hanrahan, who has seen injuries destroy the past three seasons of his career.

The Mets expect that they’ll receive calls on righty Matt Harvey, but have no intentions of discounting his trade value based on the recent shutdown controversy, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports. Harvey is reportedly displeased with some statements from the front office, per Heyman, though it’s far from clear whether there will be any long-term ramifications from the flare-up.

That’s just one of many interesting notes in a column that is chock full of information. Here are some more notable items:

Also in the news recently, of course, is outfielder Yoenis Cespedes, who has thrived with the Mets and just tweaked his contract to make a re-signing possible. Heyman says that the movement on that front was generated by Cespedes’s side, with the team readily agreeing to the proposal. Steve Adams and I discussed this on Thursday’s edition of the MLBTR Podcast, generally agreeing that he’s unlikely to return despite that agreement given other needs and the presence of Curtis Granderson, Michael Conforto, Juan Lagares, and Michael Cuddyer. But Heyman hears that New York is “expected to make a serious play” for the soon-to-be free agent. Certainly, that’s an important open market storyline to watch this fall and winter. Despite the presence of several other highly-regarded players on the coming market, Heyman says a deal of $175MM (or even more) for the Cuban star would not be surprising.

The Red Sox’ GM hiring appears to be wide open, with Heyman writing that Diamondbacks senior VP of baseball operations De Jon Watson presents one possibility from another organization and AGM Mike Hazen could be an internal option. Other names that have come up include the frequently-mentioned Frank Wren and Brewers VP of amateur scouting Ray Montgomery.

There is a “prevailing belief” that Reds GM Walt Jocketty will keep his position, says Heyman, though manager Bryan Price seems somewhat more likely to lose his job after a rough season. On the other hand, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale did suggest today on Twitter that Jocketty could be shifted into an advisory role, with Cincinnati hiring a new general manager.

Yankees GM Billy Eppler is seen as the favorite to take the GM position with the Angels, says Heyman. Rangers GM Thad Levine could also get a long look, per the report.

The Phillies’ GM position just opened, of course, and Heyman says it will be in high demand among young executives — not only because of Philadelphia’s resources, but because the new general manager could be handed fairly broad authority. Possible names have been filtering out since even before Ruben Amaro Jr. was let go, and Heyman lists Angels AGM Matt Klentak, Giants scouting director John Barr, Royals AGM J.J. Piccolo, and the aforementioned Levine as some of the possibilities.

Fans calling for the Braves to replace manager Fredi Gonzalez may not get their wish, says Heyman. Gonzalez is “said to be in no jeopardy,” per the report.

The Tigers have a lot of work to do under new GM Al Avila, and Heyman says their “winter wish list” includes an outfielder — possibly Cespedes, though he may be too expensive, along with two starters and several bullpen arms. Detroit expects to plunk down some cash in the offseason, he adds.

It’s always seemed likely that the Blue Jays would pick up their $12MM option over veteran righty R.A. Dickey, and Heyman says that is highly likely as things stand. Toronto will also at least attempt to retain lefty David Price, who has obviously been outstanding (even by his lofty standards) since being acquired at the deadline.

The Dodgers will likely extend lefty Brett Anderson a qualifying offer. The 27-year-old has been well worth the $10MM that Los Angeles paid him this year, putting up a 3.36 ERA over 158 innings — his highest tally since his rookie campaign way back in 2009. Given his age and the fact that he has a nice platform to work from, it would seem likely that Anderson will decline a QO (if extended), though he’ll face a crowded market.

Padres president Mike Dee tells Heyman that the organization is frustrated, but has good relationships in its upper front office and is looking forward rather than looking back at last winter. San Diego will need to make a permanent decision with its field staff, and is said to be undecided on whether to retain interim skipper Pat Murphy.

Meanwhile, the Padres are assessing “whether to tweak or completely retool” its roster. Interestingly, Melvin Upton has played well enough that he could end up with a regular role as a platoon partner in center alongside Travis Jankowski. San Diego will face a somewhat difficult decision on whether to make starter Ian Kennedy a qualifying offer, but it appears the organization is leaning towards doing so.

The Red Sox on Wednesday announced a trio of front office promotions, beginning with the promotion of former big league right-hander Brian Bannister to a newly created position: director of pitching analysis and development. He had previously been serving as a pro scout for the Sox. Additionally, amateur scout Chris Mears was bumped to pitching cross-checker, and Gus Quattlebaum was moved up from assistant director of professional/international scouting to director of pro scouting. Quattlebaum will replace former pro scouting director Jared Porter, who reportedly took a job with the Cubs late last month in the wake of Ben Cherington’s resignation.

More front office chatter from around the league…

D-Backs senior vice president De Jon Watson and Red Sox assistant general manager Mike Hazen have surfaced as candidates for the GM vacancy in Boston, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. Brewers VP of amateur scouting Ray Montgomery’s name has also come up in connection to the Sox, Heyman adds. As Heyman notes, Watson has previously worked under Dave Dombrowski with the Marlins. Frank Wren’s name is still very much in play as well, Heyman hears, but there’s no clear-cut favorite at this point.

The Brewers have received permission from the Athletics to interview assistant general manager Dan Kantrovitz, per Ken Rosenthal and Jon Morosi of FOX Sports (Twitter link). Kantrovitz is in his second stint with the Athletics and served as the Cardinals scouting director in the interim. Those interested in learning more about Kantrovitz will want to check out his interview with Fangraphs’ David Laurila from last October.

Rosenthal also reports (Twitter link) that the Brewers are expected to request an interview with Rays vice president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom. Tampa Bay promoted Bloom from director of baseball ops to VP of baseball ops last offseason after Andrew Friedman joined the Dodgers organization. A graduate of Yale, Bloom has a background in player development, contract negotiation and international scouting.

Former Braves GM Frank Wren might be the front-runner for the Red Sox’ open GM position, but ESPN Boston’s Gordon Edes looks at other potential candidates for the job now that the Sox have hired Dave Dombrowski to be their president of baseball operations. Given the Sox organization’s strong interest in analytics, some of Edes’ potential candidates, like former Cubs GM Jim Hendry and former Dodgers exec Ned Colletti, seem to me to be somewhat unlikely. Edes notes that Hendry worked with Dombrowski in the Marlins organization, however, and that past ties often help determine who gets hired. Here’s more on the Red Sox.

Clay Buchholz, currently on the 60-day DL with a right elbow strain, is not currently throwing, Tom Layman of the Boston Herald writes. “He feels good enough to throw, but we are evaluating him daily to see where he’s at,” says interim manager Torey Lovullo, who adds that Buchholz has not had a setback. Lovullo says the Red Sox haven’t determined that Buchholz will be shut down for the season. It seemingly wouldn’t be surprising if he didn’t pitch again this season, however. There’s only a bit more than a month left, it takes time to be able to pitch enough innings to start, and the Red Sox are out of the playoff race.

Following a 45-minute introductory press conference for new Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald provided a rundown with some highlights. Dombrowski was blunt in stating that the Red Sox need to find some pitching, specifically stating his affinity for power arms. He also noted that a top-of-the-rotation arm is something he’d prefer to bring into to the fold. “Normally, if you’re going to have a world championship club, you need to have a No. 1 type of guy,” Dombrowski explained. He also addressed the team’s GM search. When asked about why he needs a general manager, when it’ll be Dombrowski who has the final say, the veteran executive replied, “This is a big market. There’s a lot going on, day in and day out. We have a lot of expenditure at the major-league level, pursue talent aggressively all over the globe. I think if you get the right person on board with you, if you can get that person and be in sync with them, that can only be helpful.” Dombrowski also touched on his familiarity with analytics as well as the fact that he doesn’t necessarily feel the need to make sweeping changes to a front office that already has “a lot of good people” with “good reputation.

A few more front office notes from around the league…

After speaking with multiple industry sources, Sean McAdam of CSN New England writes that four candidates for the Red Sox’ GM opening include former Braves GM Frank Wren, former Rockies GM Dan O’Dowd, former Angels GM/current Red Sox advisor Jerry Dipoto and Yankees assistant GM Billy Eppler. Wren has been oft-mentioned in the past few days, and O’Dowd has also popped up more recently in reports. Regarding Eppler, McAdam writes that he’s blocked in New York by Brian Cashman, and many expect him to land a GM job elsewhere this winter.

Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports spoke to one rival executive who said he would be “shocked” if the Dombrowski hired anyone other than Wren to serve as his new general manager (Twitter link). Of course, in the above-linked piece from Lauber, he writes that Dombrowski is in the early stages of compiling a list of candidates, and the Sox have assured the commissioner’s office that they’ll be interviewing minority candidates in their search.

ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick reports (Twitterlinks) that there’s some industry buzz that Dipoto is on the Brewers’ radar as they look for a new GM. Milwaukee is said to be looking for a younger, more analytical general manager following Doug Melvin’s announcement that he’ll transition to an advisory role. Crasnick also notes that there’s some speculation that Cherington would be a good fit for Milwaukee’s GM vacancy.

The Red Sox’ stunning announcement that Dave Dombrowski will take over as president of baseball operations is still sinking in for many, but further changes figure to be on the way in Boston. Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Press spoke to Dombrowski and tweets that the new Boston president believes he will hire a GM to work underneath him (Twitter link). Bob Nightengale of USA Today Sports tweets that former Braves GM Frank Wren, who worked with Dombrowski in the Marlins and Expos front offices in the 1980s and 1990s, is a leading candidate for the position.

Wren’s more traditional background of scouting would seemingly align well with Dombrowski’s strengths, as opposed to a more analytical GM like Ben Cherington, who passed on the opportunity to remain on board as the Red Sox’ GM following the addition of Dombrowski. There’s been speculation about Jerry Dipoto, who is working with the Sox on a temporary basis at the moment, but he, too, has a more analytical slant and wasn’t hired by Dombrowski.

Wren was fired by the Braves last September, with John Hart taking over as president of baseball operations. (Notably, the Braves serve as an example of a team that elected to deploy a president but no GM, as they currently do not have one in place.) The 57-year-old Wren’s front office experience dates back to the mid-1980s, and he’s worked with the Orioles in addition to the previously mentioned Expos, Marlins and Braves.

Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe tweets that he finds it difficult to imagine any team owned by John Henry would completely abandon analytics, noting that there will have to be a balance in place. One can imagine that even in the event of a more traditional hire in the GM department, Dombrowski may bring in some new analysts or, at the very least, make an effort to retain some of Cherington’s more analytically inclined lieutenants. Of course, many that previously worked underneath Cherington may elect to seek employment elsewhere as well.